Ring comb



p 27, 1955 c. D. GRESHAM ET AL 2,718,894

RING COMB Filed April 14, 1953 INVENTOR l laufefl reshdm Ernesi- Hoffman]? "W QM WM ATTORNEY/ United States Patent fiFic e 2,718,894 Patented Sept. 27, 1955 RING COMB Claude D. Gresham and Ernest Holfmann, Omaha, Nebn, assignors to Tip-Top Products Company, a corporation of Nebraska Application April 14, 1953, Serial No. 348,676

1 Claim. (Cl. 1sz 13s The present invention relates to an improved ring comb for holding hair in place.

An important object is to provide a ring comb in the form of a pair of hinged sections having their free ends provided with coacting catch means so that the sections may be easily and conveniently locked together by simply pressing or displacing one of the free end sections relative to the adjacent section.

Heretofore, in devices of this character the catch mechanism has been positioned to one side of the sections, with the result that when locking and unlocking the catch, a severe strain is imposed on the hinge connection of the sections. By reason of the present invention the free end portions of the hinge sections of the ring comb are provided with interfitting ribs and grooves which are snapped into interlocking engagement with one another upon the application of a slight bending action to one of the sections in the direction of the transverse plane of the sections so as to insure a tight and firm engagement when the parts are assembled. Moreover, the releasable engagement of the ribs and grooves not only provides a proper fastening of the sections, but

also insures the parts remaining in their locked position until it is desired to release the sections.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying claim and drawings.

Referring to the drawings in which is shown one preferred embodiment the invention may assume:

Figure 1 is a view showing a ring comb constructed in accordance with the present invention and applied to the hair of a user.

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the ring comb showing in dotted lines the position of the sections when being released from engagement with each other.

Figure 3 is an end view of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a detail sectional view of the free end portions of the sections of the ring comb in their open position, showing the means for releasably connecting the sections together.

Referring to the drawings, 10 indicates a ring comb constructed in accordance with the present invention and which may be made of any suitable and durable light, flexible and resilient material, such as plastic or the like. The ring 10 comprises a pair of curved semicircular sections 11 and 12 respectively, which may be of any suitable size. The sections 11 and 12 at one end are hinged together as at 13 (Fig. 2). The section 11 has secured to the inner surface thereof and extending inwardly therefrom, spaced comb teeth 14 which are offset relative to the comb teeth 15 that extend inwardly from the section 12. The teeth 14 in the section 11 are disposed at an angle relative to the teeth 15 in the section 12 and are staggered relative to the teeth in the other section so that the hair engaged by the ends of the teeth is formed into a wave of closely shaped undulations.

The opposed free ends 16 of the sections 11 and 12 (Fig. 4) are releasably connected by novel fastening means so that when the sections are in their open position, a pony-tail hairdo 17 or the like (Fig. 1), may be clamped by the sections and held firmly and securely in place preparatory to the hair being combed into any desired stylish arrangement. In order to firmly and normally maintain the free ends 16 of the'sections in interlocking engagement with each other, one of these sections, such as the section 12 (Fig. 4), is provided with a depending or inwardly extending shoulder 18 having in the upper surface thereof an outwardly extending transverse groove 19 provided with an inclined transverse smooth side 20 projecting above the groove and merging into the top surface of the section 12. The other side of the groove 19 terminates in an upwardly and outwardly extending projection or rib 21 which is provided with an outer transversely disposed inclined end surface 22 extending downwardly and below the groove 19 and substantially parallel with the inclined surface 20. The adjacent free end of the section 11 has an enlarged inner portion 23 (Fig. 4) having an inclined transverse outer surface 24 which is spaced from a transverse inwardly disposed groove 25 so as to form therewith an inwardly and radially disposed rib or projection 26 that fits in the groove 19. The inner side wall of the groove 25 has a smooth inclined fiat end surface 27 disposed substantially parallel to and slightly below the surface 26 previously described. The surface 27 coacts with an inclined surface 28 to form the tapered projection 29 and the rib 21 is arranged to engage the groove 25 when the parts are in their closed position.

Thus it will be seen that each of the free ends 16 of the ring is provided with a transverse groove and a rib which coacts with a complementary transverse groove and a rib that extends in an opposite direction, so as to be snapped into engagement with each other when one of the sections is bent inwardly and in the same plane as the transverse plane of the ring 10. The sections 11 and 12 may be swung about their pivot 13 to their open position and when initially moved to their closed position, the inclined side 21 abuts the inclined surface 26 so as to cause the projection 21 to be moved or snapped under the rib 26 and into engagement with the groove 25. At the same time, the rib 26 is brought into engagement with the groove 19 so as to firmly maintain the parts in a releasable fixed position. The sections 11 and 12 are formed of resilient flexible material which combines a sufficient degree of rigidity to normally exert considerable resistance to forces which tend to bend or distort the same and are sufiiciently resilient to return to their initial positions when once displaced. Thus it will be seen that the sections may be quickly and conveniently located in their closed position by simply pressing one side against the other. Further, this inward pressure does not apply or place any strain on the hinge 13 during the locking or unlocking of the releasable catch assembly. Since the flexible teeth 14 and 15 of the combs are offset relative to each other, they are not likely to be broken off when the sections are snapped into their closed position.

By reason of the tight fit of the clamp sections when in their closed position, the ring comb may be sufficiently used for forming various types of coiffures at a minimum expenditure of time, effort and cost. Moreover, as clearly shown in Figure l of the drawing, when the entire head of hair or major portion thereof is combed back of the head, the ring comb may be easily applied so as to allow the hair to hang down in a pony-tail style. The comb ring 10 may then be moved inwardly or in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 so that the hair may be combed into various attractive and stylish arrangements.

It will be understood that the form of the invention shown is merely illustrative of a preferred embodiment and that such changes may be made to the ring comb as come within the scope of the following claim.

We claim:

A ring comb of the class described including a pair of curved flexible and resilient sections hinged together at one end, the opposite end of each curved section having a clasp portion, said clasp portions interfitting to form a clasp, one of said clasp portions having a radially and inwardly disposed shoulder provided with a transverse flat side inclined relative to the diameter joining the hinge and the clasp, said inclined side terminating at its inner end in a transverse groove disposed on the outer surface of the shoulder, said shoulder having a rib extending outwardly and upwardly from the groove and spaced from said inclined flat side, and said rib terminating in an inclined flat end surface substantially parallel to said inclined flat side, the clasp portion of the other section having an end surface inclined relative to said diameter, said last-mentioned clasp portion having a transverse groove on the inner side thereof spaced from said end surface and an inwardly and radially projecting rib, said groove having a side thereof extending inwardly and disposed parallel to said end surface, each of said sections having comb teeth projecting inwardly from the inner sides thereof and towards the other section when the sections are closed, the opposed free end portions of the comb being arranged to snap together upon relative radial displacement of the flexible sections so as to cause the outwardly extending rib on the first-mentioned flexible section to engage the groove on the inner side of the other section, and said outwardly extending rib being releasable from said groove upon the free end of the first-mentioned flexible section being bent inwardly and away from the other section, and without applying any lateral strain to the pivotal connection of the sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 573,887 Kraus Dec. 29, 1896 918,203 Schwarzer Apr. 13, 1907 2,445,071 Kovacs et a1. July 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS 297,392 Great Britain Nov. 1, 1928 

